


we call this bravery

by opheliahyde



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Incest, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 04:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2095776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opheliahyde/pseuds/opheliahyde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt,<i> accidental roadtrip</i>. Vanessa acquires a culebra demigoddess, and gets much more in return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we call this bravery

Vanessa had been on road trips before—by herself with the windows rolled down and the radio turned up loud enough to hear over the passing wind, or stretched out in the backseat with her feet hanging out the window while Seth drove and Richie took his place in the passenger’s seat, traveling state-to-state, doing a job then running before the cops caught up to them, rushed and fast, adrenaline running high and making her heart pound—but she didn’t know how to explain this, put a name to it, how she ended up with a culebra goddess sitting shotgun, eyes cast out the window where her arm hangs out, hand coasting on the air.

“Do you have any idea where you want to go?” she asks, and Santanico turns away from the window to look at her, fixed stare that sends shivers ripping across Vanessa’s skin. It reminds her a bit like Richie, but more intense, more like she can see what’s in her head, not just what’s under her clothes.

“Anywhere is fine.” Santanico smiles, a slow curling of her lips. “I missed the sun.”

Vanessa grips the steering wheel tighter, keeps a steady pressure on the gas pedal. “Been a while, has it?” she asks, not sure what to say, what’s appropriate, what even makes sense anymore since Seth and Richie left her, this time gifting her with Santanico on their way out of her life again.

Santanico’s fingertips brush her cheek, pushing the loose hair behind her ear. “You have no idea.”

 

—

 

They stop at a diner and Santanico orders a little bit of everything off the menu, their waitress eyeing her as she smiles prettily up at her, handing her back the menu. Vanessa eyes her, too—mouth flattening into a line.

“Who’s paying for all of this?” she asks. “Because I ain’t got that kind of cash, my money is going to go _towards_ something this time.”

“Relax,” Santanico says, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder, pulling something out of her pocket--a wad of bills, folded over, but Vanessa can read the hundred in the corner. “It’s taken care of. Seth’s getting sloppy.”

Vanessa laughs, can’t help it, bubbles out of her throat. “You stole that? From _Seth_?”

“Finders keepers.” Santanico’s eyes gleam, dark and bottomless, mischief quirking the corner of her mouth, and Vanessa wonders not for the first time how old she is.

 

—

 

“Hey,” Vanessa asks, coasting to the side of the road—it’s dark and the road is empty, long stretch of nothing but flat plains—and parks. “You wanna learn how to drive?”

Santanico sits up, eyes wide like she was six and Vanessa just asked her if she wanted to go to DisneyWorld. She nods, opening the door and slipping out of the car before Vanessa had a chance to undo her seatbelt.

Santanico picks it up quick, once she figured out the brake was not the gas pedal. She goes a little too fast, but Vanessa finds she trusts her, quick reflexes and better sight--she can handle it.

“Thank you,” Santanico tells her, her voice low, heavy on a breath.

It churns a bit in Vanessa’s gut, makes her skin feel tight. “It’s not a big deal, now we can switch off. I am tired of playing chauffeur all the time.”

Santanico grins, turning her eyes back towards the road. “I can see why you were special to them.”

Vanessa doesn’t know what to make of that, but it tumbles through her head and sticks under her ribs.

 

—

 

Santanico dives into waves like she was part-fish, not part-snake ( _Vanessa had seen her fangs, long and thing, dropped as she hissed, skin giving way to scales when some asshole tried to accost Vanessa on the street--she had to grab her wrist, press her fingers against her palm until she relaxed, put her face back on_ ). Vanessa watches her from the shoreline, the cold water lapping at her feet. She never much liked ocean water, too cold and the salt burned, made her sick when she swallowed it. Rivers and lakes made for much better swimming, but Santanico had wanted to see the ocean, bought them both overpriced bikinis from the boardwalk and dragged her out onto the sand.

She comes out of the ocean looking like a mermaid, long hair drenched to her hips, smiling at Vanessa with her hand outstretched. “Come with me, _cariña_. I will keep you safe from the sea monsters.”

“It’s not the sea monsters I’m worried about,” Vanessa mutters, but lets Santanico grab her hand in her cool, wet one and tug her into the waves.

(Santanico catches her when wave knocks her, tipping her off her feet and into Santanico, who keeps her steady despite her thin frame and smaller height, there’s strength in her hands--she holds her, skin cooler than it should be, but it’s nice being close. Santanico’s eyes drift from hers, lashes lowering, gazing at her mouth, then lower until she lifts her eyes. “I told you I would protect you.”)

 

—

 

Santanico wakes her, hovering over her in bed. Vanessa jerks awake underneath her, shuddering, her heart jumping in her throat, pulse pounding and thudding through her veins ( _it was always a risk, sharing a room with her, that she might wake like this, but she couldn’t stop herself from shaking_ ).

“What are you doing?”

“Calm down, _cariña_. I didn’t mean to give you a fright.” Santanico peers at her, eyes large and alien in the dark, fingertips stroking along her hairline.

Vanessa gulps a breath, swallows it down. “What did you mean, then?”

“I want to kiss you,” she says, rolling off her, tucking herself against Vanessa’s side, resting her chin off her collarbone. “Would you like to kiss me?”

“You couldn’t have picked a better time?” Vanessa asks, nerves easing with her breath, slow in and out, but her heart remains thumping hard against her ribs for another reason.

Santanico shrugs, shifting closer. “Do you want to?”

Vanessa was always clumsy with words, feels too much too get across her meaning without exploding—voice turning shrill, eyes watering, getting a crowbar in her hands and smashing a car because it’s the only way she knows how to be heard. She grabs Santanico by the jaw, lifting her chin and angling their mouth until their lips are brushing, the barest of kisses until Vanessa surges forward, Santanico’s fingers winding through her hair as she kisses her, opens her mouth with her tongue, rolling Santanico underneath her.

“Does this mean you’re keeping me?” Vanessa asks, panting into her mouth.

Santanico nips at her bottom lip, laving her tongue over the soreness. “I don’t _keep_ anyone.”

“Are you going to turn me?”

“Only if you want me to.”

Vanessa covers her mouth with hers, grinning when she makes a noise, high and sharp. She pulls away, chest feeling warm and thick, head light, feeling a bit dizzy. “I think I’d like to remain human, thanks.”

 

—

 

It’s not long before Seth and Richie cross their paths—Vanessa feels like a magnetic pole, always attracting them one way or another; the sick part is, she’s not sure if she wants it to ever change.

Seth’s grin is a bit sharper when he sees her, blood staining his shirt collar and Vanessa should have figured, glancing at Richie as he eyes her cautiously, looking like he wants to pick her brain, know what she’s feeling—it was inevitable, really; there wasn’t a chance Richie could go an eternity without his brother.

Seth doesn’t take his eyes off her and it still makes her stomach flip, her knees a little weak—old habits and all that jazz, he’ll always have a piece of her, a weak spot in her heart tattooed with his name—but his eyes scan her body, lingering on the way her fingers interlock with Santanico’s, grip tight.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he says, and Richie rolls his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on [tumblr](http://richiesseth.tumblr.com)!


End file.
